


Later Pendrago

by wolfgun



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M, sorry about this, spoilers for anyone who... doesnt know what this is about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 04:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6179641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfgun/pseuds/wolfgun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If the heavy air hanging over the fortress city isn't already enough, now they feel an additional weight crushing their chests, pulling at their hearts, and tugging in their throats. The loss of something dear to them. Someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Later Pendrago

After the battle, the exhausted group of friends stand motionless in front of the sanctuary… It hasn’t quite hit them yet;

 

He's not here. And he never will be; not again.

 

They regroup for a brief time at the inn, but it's gloomy and the silence drags on each of them like nails on a chalkboard.

 

At first it's Rose that mutters excuses and shuffles off to be alone; then, one by one, the rest follow suit. Lailah leaves for the highest point in the capital, Edna walks distractedly north, and Mikleo stares into the depths of the fountain. But Rose is nowhere in sight.

 

If the heavy air hanging over the fortress city isn't already enough, now they feel an additional weight crushing their chests, pulling at their hearts, and tugging in their throats. The loss of something dear to them. Someone.

 

Pendrago at night is barren and cold and dismal; Sorey can't help but turn in the direction of the wind each time a breeze rolls by. He expects to feel the presence of the wind seraph, he expects to see that familiar toothy frown, black worn jacket, and dusty decorated hat. But instead, the young shepherd turns his head, and sees nothing.

 

He knows each of his friends are thinking the same thing: If this is just Symmone, how brutal will Heldalf be, the real deal? How many more will they lose? Can this battle truly be won? Is it worth it? 

 

He tries to seek guidance from his team scattered around within the walls, but talk is short and dripping with sorrow. It's no surprise, but he wished someone could ease his mind.

 

Lailah releases an origami bird into the sky in remembrance, and the two watch as it floats ever farther. Out of their vision, out of their world, on to their lost friend. It doesn't ease Sorey in the slightest, and he turns back, knowing its purpose but not feeling its intended effects. How could he let go of someone so easily? Someone he had fought side by side with, and joked with, and shared his powers with? It doesn’t make any sense.

 

He walks away from Edna with his jaw set and his fists clenched; and she apologizes for her tactlessness. They're all on edge. They all are feeling what he is. Sighing, he drags his feet and aimlessly wanders. This city is just the same cinderblocks stacked over and over, the same dark shade of gray that seems to ooze melancholy. Or maybe that's just his mind feeding off the energy of the moment.

 

The fountain's soft roar drowns out most of his thoughts, but the ones he wants to avoid are the loudest. They persist, even above the din of the running water. Mikleo stands with his elbows on the granite, brows furrowed in thought and eyes trained on the liquid in front of him.

 

"Sorey," he says, without pretense. "Do you still think of Mason?"

 

"Sometimes." The two stand side by side, and Sorey doesn't know what his friend sees in the dark water. It's quite mesmerizing, though.

 

The water seraph doesn't speak for a while. "... It wasn't your fault."

 

"Huh? Which one?"

 

"Both. Both of them--everything."

 

"... I guess."

 

Mikleo huffs softly, glancing at his friend out of the corner of his eye. Nevertheless, he lets the subject drop, and again watches the water swirl around. 

 

"It feels like I've lost," the shepherd says, pursing his lips in a tight frown. "Everything I've done—that all of us have been through—and yet I still can't save all of them."

 

"No one... expects you to be perfect, Sorey. The Shepherd might be powerful and have extraordinary abilities; but he isn't everything. You may be the Shepherd, but you're still Sorey."

 

"But I should be able--"

 

"We've lost some along the way, yeah; among them Mason and Dezel, and it really, really hurts," he reached up to his forehead and rested his fingers on his circlet. "But if we don't move forward, there'll be more. We'll lose more people than we ever could have imagined."

 

A long silence follows, and Mikleo runs his hands through his hair, glancing up at the night sky.

 

"I... No one in the village ever... died, Mikleo. I don't--" Sorey turns away from the fountain, gritting his teeth. "Heldalf... What does he want?"

 

Mikleo watches his friend pace for a while. "I don't know Heldalf's motives, but all we can do in the meantime is focus on our own journey. We need to get stronger... So this won't happen again." He looks from the dark water, towards Sorey. “Dezel’s death… his shameful acts… and the things Symmone said… Perhaps they’re all things the Shepherd must accept in order to face and quell the Lord of Calamity…”

 

"Right... I’m just… I’m just not sure how to feel about it all." 

 

“You know… I used to think you could quit—Hear me out. I thought that when the Shepherd was being crushed by his duty or his destiny, that it was something you could just up and quit. Until yesterday, that is. Things are different now.” Mikleo stares off to the side, folding his arms across his chest.

 

“For Dezel’s sake… If nothing else, I want to find the answers.”

 

“I want to know too… and I no longer think you should quit. We all have a duty to see this through. All of us.” Mikleo nods, if only to himself. Sorey looks back at his friend, who’s still deep in thought.

 

"You should find Rose, and talk to her," the water seraph murmurs.

 

Sorey blinks, seeming unsure of that direction, but still heads back into the streets to find his squire.

 

But when Rose didn’t want to be found, she wasn’t. He looks all over the city for her; in every nook he could think of, all the crannies that he could remember that existed in Pendrago. He was almost about to give up when he remembered the only other place she could be; the place he was avoiding.

 

Zaveid leans on the brick of a wall, and he startles Sorey out of his thoughts.

 

“How was he? In his last moments?” He stood up straight, pinching the brim of his newly acquired had in his fingertips. It was rough, but velvety.

 

Sorey takes a breath before answering, but the wind seraph seems satisfied with the reply, nodding, and tipping the hat at an odd angle so it covered part of his face. He mentioned him and a few friends saved the windrider seraph once.

 

“I don’t even think he remembered me,” Zaveid continued. “That guy… tossed everything away. Even his memories.”

 

Sorey said nothing, unable to meet the wind seraph’s eyes.

 

“But, if something gets thrown away, you just gotta find it again. And you found it for him, didn’t ya?”

 

“Hey… are you trying to comfort me?”

 

“You bet I am! You’re going to be my all-important vessel pretty soon. Can’t have you getting all malevolent on me.”

 

The young shepherd walks away, stomping his feet harder than he needs to; A sublord pact? They can’t just replace a wind seraph when one goes out of commission. Sorey grits his teeth. He knows they have to move forward… but isn’t that just a little bit much? If he swallows his disdain for Zaveid, he _might_ be able to accept the pact. But… right now… when it’s still fresh in their minds…

 

Sorey shakes his head. When one has lived long enough to see countless people die… He guesses he can understand. But he refuses to.

 

He almost misses Rose as his feet take him to the front door of the sanctuary.

 

“Sorey.”

 

“Huh? Ah, Rose! I—I didn’t see you there—“

 

“Back there… I spoke with Dezel during his last moments.” She walked up to the shepherd. “And when I saw him then, I remembered something that I’d forgotten long ago. I had met him before, when I was really little. I realized he’d probably been protecting me ever since.. my whole life….”

 

“Rose… Dezel didn’t want you to know that. He wanted you to live believing you came this far by your strength alone.”

 

“Yeah… I’m sure that’s what he wanted. But he should’ve just straight up told me! Without knowing, I was just a jerk to him! Self-absorbed and ungrateful and…” She sighs, running a hand through her hair. “You have to tell me these things!”

 

“R—Right… I’m really sorry, Rose… I should’ve told you—“

 

“No, no… Sorry… I’m being unfair. I’ll get over it; those kinda things can’t be helped, y’know?” She smiles weakly, clasping her hands tightly behind her back. “Besides, somehow, it doesn’t feel like I’ll never see him again. Then I can give him a real ass-kicking! Plus, I think whatever garbage that Symmone chick was spouting says a lot more about her problems than anything else…”

 

“Rose… you’re my hero.”

 

“Oh, nah! I just don’t like to think too much. Besides… It’s all not fully digested. I think all we can do now is get some rest… and move onwards. We can’t let this have happened to stop in our tracks turn around now.”

 

“Yeah… You’re right.” Sorey starts to walk away, but Rose stands behind him, gazing up at the night sky.  “You coming, Rose?”

 

“I’ll catch up with you later,” she says, waving the shepherd off.

 

She watches her friend disappear, and once again turns towards the spot where it all happened… just a few hours earlier. Biting her lip, she squeezes her eyes shut… but she can’t hold it in anymore. Tears spill from her eyes and she crouches on the cold stone; the ground soaks up her tears, and she only wishes her regrets could be dissolved that easily.

 

Sorey watches from behind the wall, his fists at his side and his own tears threatening to break. He walks a route hurriedly back to Mikleo where he bumps into no one, and finds the water seraph sitting with his face upturned, eyes closed, and back to the fountain. The shepherd watches his friend for a while, and when his eyes don’t open, he takes a seat next to him.

 

Mikleo lets the shepherd lean on his shoulder, and pretends not to feel the wetness that soaks his shoulder. This night was going to be one of the longest he's had in a while.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry...... I had to. I wanted to include a scene afterwards at the inn but I thought this would suffice, for the amount of pain and torment I put into it.


End file.
